Reflecting on Learning

     Upon reflection on the field of early childhood and what I hope to be able to accomplish one thing comes to mind- that every child know that they matter, that they know that I believe in them and that I care about them as people.  All too often we as educators get caught up in the daily things such as standardized tests, scores, and things of that nature, but my goal is to let each child know that they matter to me outside of the scores and the testing.
     I want to teach children to be confident in themselves and to have faith in themselves rather than to make excuses; excuses are what you get as a result of a child being frustrated and not getting something.  I know that I cannot go home with the students, but if only one person tells these children that they matter, that they can do whatever it is they aspire to do, that there is no dream out of their reach if they are willing to work hard to get there, then I want that person to be me.
     Thank you to all of my colleagues who I have learned so much from during this course; the course materials are good, but the experiences that we share and the diversity that we bring to the table make this course fantastic!  Thank you to Dr. Shepard for being there when I had questions about things; I also appreciate the feedback on each and every assignment as I feel like your words helped guide me and make me better.  Good luck in the future courses to all of you!

Impact on Early Emotional Development

     I chose to look deeper at China because students here the United States are always compared to the students in China in terms of "quality education".  I was hoping to look at China and see what it is that this country does so differently than we do her in the U.S. to see what may give them the educational advantage.
     One of the things that children of China have to overcome is the natural disasters that strike the country.  The earthquakes and such that strike the country cause such wide spread devastation that it takes the country quite some time to recuperate.  Some children end up without families and homes; finding a way for these children to still receive an education is a challenge that China faces.
     If a child is orphaned due to a natural disaster, I cannot imagine that continuing on with their educational routine would be of the highest importance to them.  Although it would provide them with some sense of normalcy, it would be hard for them to focus on the educational goals in the classroom when they have lost so much.
     As a teacher, I cannot imagine what this child would be facing, but I would be there in any way that I could to help the child.  It would be difficult to lose your home and be concerned with school, but as a teacher, I may be able to help the family by helping the children maintain that routine while the adults sort things out in other areas.  From a personal level, I would want to do all that I could to help the family. 

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

     In response to the question, I think that our country is entirely too sexualized, but especially the younger generations.  As a mother, it is difficult to buy clothes for my child that are not skin tight, too short, or just plain not appropriate for a six year old.  Children today are not allowed to be children long if they want to be considered "cool" because all of the messages sent to them on a regular basis about what cool is and what it should look like.

     Children are constantly presented with pictures of beautiful girls who wear revealing clothing and who act in a provocative manner.  I do not allow my children, who are five and six, to watch anything other than SPROUT or PBS because of the images that the media 
 portrays as "cool".   Movies that are aimed at "tweens" tend to have sexual situations in them that encourage children to view sexual behavior as okay.

There is a child in my fourth grade class who I have had to watch because she comes to school dressed one way and comes into my classroom in something entirely different at least twice a week.  I called the mom and we discussed that her daughter said that the boys think she is a nerd so she had been taking her older sister's clothes and makeup trying to make the boys think that she was cool.  I could not help but think that when I was in fourth grade, I still thought that boys had cooties and that they were odd just because they were boys; I cannot remember trying to empress anyone at such a young age, but especially not with how I dressed. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

     The -ism that I chose to focus on for this assignment is classism.  I live in a small town in Georgia and all of the schools are now Title I schools.  I grew up in this town and I have lived here most of my life as has my husband; we have chosen to raise our two children here and do not see it as a bad place to be. 
     I have had people that I have known most of my life who I have gone all of the way through school with ask me "what I can teach a child being from this sad little town and choosing to stay here?".  This bothered me because these same people have many children and are staying here while not trying to better themselves by going to college. 
     I believe that the consequence of any -ism that I was facing in my personal life would cause me to question the way that the parents and students thought of me.  It would make me feel unsure of myself to some degree, just as the comment I shared with you had done.  I would worry that the families shared the same ideas as the acquaintances that spoke about and that they questioned my ability to properly teach their children.

Creating Affirming Environments

     If I were to open my own Family Child Care Home, it would be important to make sure all children felt welcome as well as their families.  One way that I would do this would be in the decoration of the facilities.  I would make sure that different cultures were represented even if those cultures were not represented in the children that attended the facility.
     I would make sure the families and the children were comfortable by having the different areas designated for different activities just as Adriana did in her child care home.  I would make sure that the room for napping depicted images that made the children feel at ease.  One example of pictures that I would like to use in a facility like this would be images of animals because children relate to animals.  I would make sure that the room was painted a color that encouraged calm emotions such as a pale blue. 
     I would make sure that the toys and dress up items in the facility appealed to children of all cultures and genders.  I would have boy dolls as well as girl dolls, traditional dress of different cultures, and toys that can be found in the homes of the children as well.  I would have books that depict the families from which children come- single parent homes, traditional family homes, homes with extended family members present and non-traditional families. 

What I Have Learned...

     One hope that I have when working with early childhood students and their families is that they all receive the resources that will make a difference in their lives and in the way that they view education.  Each child should be made to feel as though learning and school are exciting explorations of the world rather than something that they have to stress over.
     One goal that I would like to set for the field of early childhood education is to come out of the box and embrace each child and love each child for who they are before us, not who we could possibly mold them to be or who they could be if they did this or that.  Children should be loved by teachers, and although some students make it harder to love them, those are the students who need it the most.  There are things about each of us that we are not thrilled about, but that does not mean that we are a waste, we all have good points and the ability to love and be loved- if not, this profession is not for you.
     I would like to say thank you to the awesome group that I collaborated with during this course.  I have enjoyed learning about you and from all of you.  I truly believe that the collaboration makes the courses more meaningful and the material that we learn more relevant. Good luck and best wishes to all of you only your journey! 

Jamie Reid

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: "We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

   The first thing that came to mind with this topic is when I was student teaching and a child in my class asked "why is that boy walking like that?" about a student who was using braces to walk because of his prosthetic legs.  The teacher quickly reprimanded the student and told him that he was moving his clip to yellow because he was talking in the hallway.  Never again did I hear the teacher explain to the student what was so different about the  boy with braces.  
     The problem in this situation is that the teacher was represented a teachable moment and she turned it into something that made him feel ashamed for asking.  The teacher's reaction may also have caused the boy to rely on his own perceptions about the other student which could have been wrong as well.
     An anti-bias teacher would have explained that some people including children have illnesses and other medical conditions that cause them to lose parts of their body.  Doctors can make new parts out of different materials, but they are not as easily controlled as our legs and arms are so they use braces to help them.  Students need to learn that there is not a difference in people on the inside due to physical differences on the outside.

"Start Seeing Diversity Video" Blog: Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

     Homophobia and hetero-sexism permeate a child's life from a variety of areas.  Toys are geared towards a specific gender most of the time.  The commercials that you will see beginning soon for all of the newest and coolest must-have toys for the holidays are geared at a child's gender.  Last Christmas, a distant relative questioned my choice of allowing my son to have pretend food and a cooking set; her thought was that I was "teaching him" to be girly.  My daughter enjoys playing with trucks and remote control cars as much as my son does and so I let her.  I do not think that there should be "gender restrictions" on toys.
    Most centers and schools do not like to acknowledge the fact that some children in the school come from same-sex families.  I have a child in my class who has two moms and he feels very left out when the school has fun initiatives like the F.B.I (Fathers Being Involved) program because his parents are not "allowed" to attend.  Even if the school were to allow it, there would be an uproar from the community about it.  
     I do not think that it is appropriate to ask centers to refrain from carrying books that depict same-gender parents because that is the reality that some children may go home to and they have a right to see and read books that they can identify with as well.  I would tell someone who did not like this that what they choose to tell their child about gender as it relates to families is their choice, but that it is a reality for many children and they should not be made to feel "odd" because of it.  I would also encourage them to think about it and allow the child to pose questions to them before they fly off the handle and start stressing an issue that may not exist.
    

A Brief Note of Thanks

Over the duration of this course, and some of you for far longer than just this course, I have come to rely on your professional judgements and collaboration to help me in many real world instances.  I have come to know and appreciate all of the different backgrounds from which we can bring information to the table  to make our learning community diverse and wonderful.  I wish all of you the best of luck on the duration of your journey to your degree. 

Thank you!
Jamie Reid

The Importance of the Adjourning Phase

The adjourning phase is hardest for me when close bonds have been formed among the members of the team. I think that this is because you get to know one another on a professional level, but also on a personal level.
      The group that I was a part of that was hardest for me to leave was my early childhood education cohort.  We had been through so much together- happy and sad, good and bad; we all took a journey to a very meaningful career together. We were all experiencing the same sort of things and then having to work through them and learn from them.  Graduation was our closing ritual and it was a celebration of all that we had accomplished as individuals and as a group.  
     I imagine that leaving my colleagues from the masters program will be similar.  Although this program has been online, there are people that I met during my very first course in the program that I still have contact with.  We have formed a support system to help us through the obstacles that we face.

Communicating Through Conflict

     This week's assignment asked me to think of a disagreement or conflict that I have had recently with someone in my professional or personal life and to think about some ways that I could have handled the situation differently.
     A recent argument that I had with my sister revolved around her opinion of things that occurred when we were children.  She is not speaking to my mother which creates a family tension for all of us, especially around the holidays.  In trying to get the two to reach some common ground, I ended up in an argument with my sister as well.  Many of the things that she said were not as I remembered them happening.  I became irate and I yelled over her and said that I was tired of everything being all about her and the drama that she was creating for the family over something that happened over ten years ago. 
     In reading the material for this week and thinking about the 3 Rs and NVC strategies, I see where there were things that I could have done differently that could have prevented the argument from spreading to included me.  First of all, I think that the conversation would have gone differently had I listened to what she had to say rather than shutting her down the first time that she said something that was not how I remember it being.  This would have prevented me form speaking out of frustration and allowed me a moment to hear her before responding.  A second strategy that I think would have been useful in this situation would have been to show respect for the way that she recalled the events.  I felt bad for jumping on her as though she had lied because in all honesty, it could be that it was her perception of the events.
    

Communcation Styles

What is the one thing that surprised you the most? Why?

In taking the verbal aggressiveness scale results on the test that I took in reference to myself and the ones taken by my husband and a friend, I did not perceive myself to be as aggressive as they rated me to be.  My score was 54, but my husband's score was 73 and my friend's was 68 which was borderline.  This surprised me because I do not feel that I am aggressive when talking with others, but then again I do talk to my husband more candidly than I would a coworker or a student.  

 What other insights about communication did you gain this week?

1)     I learned through the listening styles inventory that I am a people oriented listener.  I think that this is important to my career as an educator because it means that I can learn from my colleagues and from my students.  It also means that I can take in information to help the students and their families to the best of my ability.   

2)      I learned that my communication anxiety depends on the situation that I am placed in.  I am comfortable in a small group setting, but when I have to speak in front of a large crowd I tend to get nervous.  I think that this is important to my career as an educator because I can control some situations and only have to address smaller groups of people.  If there were to be a time that I had to address a larger group of people, I could find some effective ways to help myself feel more at ease in the situation.

 Choose at least two to share with others through your blog and consider how each might inform your professional work and personal life.

Culture and Communication

I would have to say that I do find myself communicating differently with people of other cultures.  I think that this is more out of respect for them than anything negative.  I am usually very careful in what I say so as to not offend anyone.  I try to make sure that my gestures and the words that I use are not something that would offend someone from another culture in any way.


The three strategies that I have learned this week that I feel would be helpful in communicating with someone from a different group or culture are;


1) Listen to what is being said in order to comprehend it whether you agree with what is being said or not.


2) Maintain eye contact with the speaker and ask questions if something is said that you do not understand.


3) Do not take what is said personally; just as you are not familiar with the culture of the speaker, they may not be aware of things in your culture that you would find offensive.

Communication Skills and Styles

     The show that chose to watch for this week's assignment was Burn Notice; this is a show that comes on USA about spies.  I chose to watch this show because my husband likes it, but I have never gotten into it. 

     The characters in the beginning of the show are two men.  I would suspect that the men do not get along based on the way that they stand and the looks on their faces when conversing.  There was also a part in the show where the man meets with a woman who is in jail.  They are both crying and appear to be very upset.  

     In watching the show again with the sound on, I found out that the two men are actually friends and they are working together to get the woman out of jail.  The expressions on their faces now seem to show intense emotion during the discussion rather than dislike.  The conversation between the woman and man at the jail was correct; both were sad because the female was in jail and the man had not been able to help her get out.

     I think if I had watched a show where I was familiar with the characters I think that I would have been able to better judge their facial expressions and body language with the sound off.  I would be able make sense of the body language more if I knew the demeanor of the character and the relationship in between characters.

Effective Communicator

        The person that sticks out to me as an excellent communicator was Steve Jobs.  Jobs wad an effective communicator because he talked to people rather than at people.  He made relevant points when talking to others.  His presentations are well put together and he articulates his point well.  I would like to be as well spoken as Jobs was and to be able to draw the attention of many people with my knowledge. 

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when thinking about working with children and their families from diverse backgrounds is that I am able to show them that not all people are judgmental and that I genuinely have a desire to help them and their child succeed.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood education field related to issues of equity, diversity and social justice is for educators to receive training that provides them with cultural awareness and that requires them to learn more about the families that the children in their classrooms come from. 

I would like to thank all of my colleagues for creating an excellent learning environment.  I have truly enjoyed working with each of you and learning from you as part of our journey.  Good luck to all of you in your future courses and endeavors!

Jamie Reid

Welcoming Families Around The World

      The country that I chose to use as the home of my family is Uganda.  I used the viewpoint of a social service agency.   One of the ways that I would prepare myself would be to find out about the culture that the family is a part of.  I would also find out from the family what types of food they enjoy.  I would work to find a religious center in the area that worships as the family does so they may attend if they so desire.  I would use my resources to try to locate a family in the area that shares the same heritage to act as a host family to the family.  I would also do my best to make sure that they have all of the resources available to them to make adjusting to daily life as stress-free as possible.
       I would hope that the efforts that I made would benefit the family and myself by giving us both an opportunity to learn from each other.  I think that it is also important to make sure that the family knows that they have support here which would encourage them to bean active part of the community.  I would enjoy have the opportunity to learn about people who are from another country such as this family.

The Personal Side of Prejudice and Bias

The instance that I chose to use comes from the movie and novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" written by Harper Lee.  In the story, a back man is accused of raping a white woman who was actually beaten by her father.  The woman blames the black man because during that time, a black man and a white woman were not to have any sort of relationship according to society.  The equity was diminished when the black man was wrongly accused of raping a white girl, but because of the view of society at the time, he was found guilty.  This   incident made me feel ashamed to be a part of such a judgmental race of people.  In order for this case to see equity, the court would have to have heard the case and looked past the color of the skin of the defendant and instead at the evidence in the case.

Practicing Awareness of Microagressions

     One example of a microagression that has stuck with me was from a cooperate party hosted by my husband's employer at the time.  It was held at a Chinese restaurant that was rather expensive.  My husband had introduced me to one of his bosses and I thought that he must be an intelligent man based upon how he carried himself and his rank in the company.  During the speech part of the dinner, the topic of "Chinese overtime" was addressed.  I was mortified!  The servers looked appalled at the fact that the man would continue to say the phrase over and over again. 
     This week I learned that many of the things that offend people are not meant to be malicious.   People often talk and do not think about the consequences of the things that they say.  Words can hurt people and they can also tarnish reputations.  I have been more aware of the things that I have said this week as well. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

      I asked three people that I am fairly close to what their definition of culture was.  The responses that I received are all different and in some respects I suppose that they are accurate.  The responses I received were: 1) where you come from as in your roots, 2) the things that you believe in and your race and religion, and 3) all of the things that make us individuals such as our beliefs.
      I found that the three people that I asked all had different answers, but that they all had some truth to them.  Religion and race are two things that we have talked about in this course as being important to culture.  Many of the resources that we have read and the videos we have watched mention that it is  what we believe.  Some of the things that were omitted from the definitions that I received that I was sure would be mentioned were gender, class, age and ethnicity.  My Hispanic friend is the person who said that it was our roots, and in some ways I suppose that these things would figure in to that category, but they were not specifically named as I thought they would be.
      I never considered how broad of a topic culture is until this course.  I do not think that that is a negative thing, but I do feel that there some what of a misconception about culture as well.  Parts of our culture are heredity and/or genetic, but many aspects of our culture we have freedom to choose for ourselves.  I think that it is interesting that two of the people I asked related culture to religion.  I believe that you can have culture without being a part of a religious faith, but most people have a religious affiliation that they feel connects them to a larger cultural group.  
    

My Family Culture

       If I were to be in a situation where I had to go to another host country due to a catastrophe and I was only allowed to bring three things (assuming that my family was already with me) I would take my Bible, my photo albums and my Ipod.  I would take my Bible to remind me that God walks beside me through all of my trials and tribulations and if I am too weak to walk he will carry me through.  I would take my photo albums so that I would have the memories of loved ones that had passed and of my children with  me.  I would take my Ipod so I could listen to music to lift my spirits; I can be having a terrible day and a song come on the radio that I haven't heard in a while that puts me in a different frame of mind. 
       If I were to arrive and be told that I could only keep one of the three items, I would keep my Bible.   I would keep it because I know that reading the words would give me that strength to persevere on through the hard times hopefully to come out of all things unscathed. 
       This task made it clear to me that my culture has everything to do with how I would have reacted in this situation as well as many others.  It shapes most elements of who we are and how we think about the things and the people in our lives.

When I Think of Research...

     I have learned a great deal about the types of research and the different methods by which the information is gathered for the research.  I also never realized the extensive preparation that goes into research before the study ever begins.
     My ideas about the nature of research are not as cut and dry as they were before the course.  There are more elements to research than I ever had considered before.  I learned that there is a great deal of effort and planning that is required to even come up with a research question that is concise enough to research and still important enough to be meaningful to the education field. 
     I had a hard time narrowing down my topic for the simulation so that it would be workable if I were to really attempt the research.  It was difficult for me to find one aspect of beginning literacy and focus on it without bringing other outside factors or other aspects of literacy into the equation.  I worked through it by listening to the advice of Dr. Davis and rethinking what I felt to be the most valuable part of early literacy development.
     My perception of early childhood professionals has definitely grown to include the researchers who I did not consider much before this course.  As an educator, I strive to use the best practices in my classroom and the researchers make it possible for me to learn about the outcomes of different methods without having to conduct the research myself. 

Good luck to all of you as you continue along your paths! 
    

Research Around the World

       The site that I chose to use was the site that focused on Australia.  One of the major issues covered on the webpage was the Kony campaign.  This has been all over the news here in the U.S. as well.The article calls for the capture and sentencing of the proclaimed leader of the insurgent group "Lord's Resistance Army".  He is accused of abusing and imprisoning children from all over the world.
       The thing that I found to be surprising while reviewing the website and the articles found on it was that the U.S. and Australia share many of the same issues when speaking in terms of education.  The students and teachers there strive to make high scores on achievement tests just as we do here. 
       I liked that the site has an area dedicated to best practices to practice in the home.  Many of the resources listed there cause me to presume that the parents of the children in Australia are expected to play a major role in the initial development of their children.  That attitude continues throughout school causing the parents to take responsibility for the education of their child rather than leaving them in the hands of a teacher to learn all they need to know.

Research That Benefits Me

     As a woman who was not able to have children naturally, I have spent a great deal of time researching treatments and other methods for conception.  Then I believe that God put it in my heart for my husband and I to adopt which required a ton more research.  Since Blake and I have adopted the kids, I have spent countless hours researching topics that help me and my family cope with our new family and the life that my children came from. 

     I would have to say that researching topics related to my children and ways to handle some of the things that they tell us about how they were treated before has helped me to maintain my composure in front of the children and be more proactive as a parent.  Things with the kids are not typical because they came from a situation of neglect with the birth family and then they were abused by a foster family.  Their past effects how we discipline them, how we reward them, and how we interact with them in general.  Researching issues or topics that present themselves helps me handle things in a better way.

My Personal Research Journey

     The topic that I have chosen for my research simulation is "research based practices that benefit children's literacy".  I chose general topic because so many children fall behind because they were never taught the importance of reading.  Not many of us willing do things that we do not enjoy; for children that have never been introduced to the many wonderful worlds of reading, that is a tedious task.  I am interested in the influence of books in the home, ways to encourage early literacy development and ways to remain on grade level in reading as my subtopics.  I have met so many students who have potential, but with poor reading skills, they struggle constantly. 
     As a child, I loved to be read to.  I learned to read in the first grade and ever since then I have been intrigued by literature in one way or another.  There is so much that can be learned and experienced through reading a book.  I read for pleasure even now that I am a teacher and have children of my own because I feel that it is important for children to see reading modeled by adults. 
     I would be interested to hear from some of my colleagues who work with Head Start programs to gain some insight into things that the program does to encourage literacy in the home.  I would also love to hear about your relationships with reading on a personal level as well as what you are seeing in your classrooms.  Please feel free to share any advice that you may have on the topic as well.
     I hope to be able to share some of my research findings with you as the course progresses.  I feel that the readings so far have really helped me distinguish quality research sources from those that are not so credible.  
    

Consequences of Learning About Early Childhood on an International Level

I believe that learning about the field of early childhood education is important for many reasons.  Some of the consequences include:

1. It makes me appreciate the education system we have here in the U.S.; while we have our areas of concern, the children here are granted the right to a "free and appropriate education".
2. It has shone a light on why there seems to be such an achievement gap compared to other countries.  
3.  I have grown curious about the standardized testing systems of other countries; we in the U.S. place such importance on them, but they differ greatly from state to state.

One goal that I have in regards to the field and international relations is for my students to find a class to buddy up with so that we may learn about another country and how things are done in their schools.  I think that this would be a great learning experience for the students to learn about respecting the differences of others.  I would like to do this at the beginning of the school year and follow the class for an entire school year.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 3

     For this week's podcast assignment I chose to listen to episode 3 with Delfena Mitchell.  Ms. Mitchell runs the Liberty Children's Home in Belize.  I was shocked to learn that there is such a high rate of child abuse in this part of the world.  The story that she told about the boy named Joseph was heartbreaking.  This unfortunate child was the youngest of seven siblings; he would have to hide under his bed and eat so that other family members would not eat his food.  He came to the home after not speaking for more than a year.  Now the child is talking and interacting with his family at the home.  I think that the difference that this Children's home is making in the lives of these children is remarkable.  Hopefully these children will come to learn that there is hope for them and that not all people will treat them as they were once treated.
     The three new ideas and insights that I gained from exploring the UNESCO's website are:

1.  The Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has developed an initiative that establishes goals for education on a global scale.  The main goals are the learn to know, learn to be, learn to live together and learn to do.
2. The Literacy Initiative For Empowerment (LIFE) is a program aimed at teaching people the skills needed to read.  Most of the people at which the initiative is aimed are females who are from rural areas.
3.  Thirty five of the world's countries have less than a 50% literacy rate.  The goal of the United Nations is to bring resources to these countries in an effort to help empower the people.  18 of these countries were in Africa.

    

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 2

     I was not able to establish contact with any international contacts for the purpose of this course.  Unfortunately, the one contact that I did have said that he was able to correspond with me frequently enough for him to be of any use to me. 
     I did review Harvard University's"Global Children's Initiative" website.  I found it very interesting how the initiative is using science as a means to improve the lives of children all around the world.  Three insights that I gained from this website are:

•      International communication as to the needs of children needs to take into consideration the overall well-being of the child in order to be able to effectively education the children of the world.
•     The Center on the Developing Child has made it part of it's mission to bring together people from different disciplines in an effort to work collaboratively to achieve the goals of the Center.  This includes people who are of varying educational backgrounds as well.

• Each of the three domains has a focus that allows the researchers to concentrate their efforts on a certain portion of the world where the problem is more prevalent, although the research will apply globally. 

 I chose to listen to the podcast with Maysoun Chehab who directs the Arab Resource Collective which is responsible for teaching educators and care givers best practices for working with children.  She talked about the effects of the destruction of schools within the villages that was caused by war.  The program taught families in the war stricken area how to cope and how to help their children cope with the effects of war in their village.  I found this episode to be eye opening because often times we do not consider the repercussions of war on the children.  These children were not able to attend school because of the war; this causes many emotional issues for the children that children here in the U.S. do not have to struggle with. 

Sharing Web Resources Part 2

     The website that I have been exploring is www.nieer.org.  This is a website that is devoted to the study of early education research.  This week I explored some of the outside sources found on the site and it linked me to a United Way study that researched if there are neighborhoods where children are identified with developmental vulnerabilities.  The goal of the study was to use WIC testing sites to find families with children who were receiving services and assess the children based on the neighborhood in which they lived.  The study found that there were concentrations of low birth-weight babies as well as other factors that can contribute to a child having problems learning in a traditional classroom.
     I reviewed the publication section of the website and found that there are links to previous NIEER articles as well as videos, related publications and recommended books based on what you are researching.  Another thing that I found to be interesting under publications link was the pre-k annual reports listed by state.  Under preschool policy facts, you can find one page fact sheets containing information that pertains directly to preschool.
     In the latest newsletter, one of the articles discussed the benefits of having an effective teacher on children.  The article talked about the effect that a positive, nurturing teacher can have on a child, especially on a child with poor self-regulation skills.  The study followed first grade students that were placed in a classroom with a supportive teacher and measured the effects on the children until they were in sixth grade.  The bottom line is that a supportive teacher can be the key to a child overcoming obstacles in the classroom.
     The website has many articles that talk about equity and excellence in the early childhood education field, one of which being the article "Yet More Evidence: Time to Beef Up Math and Science in Pre-K".  This article talks about the need for equity in funding so that the pre-K programs are able to offer the content areas that children will need to develop in order to be successful. 
     This week's newsletter contained a great deal of information on the budget cuts to pre-K programs around the country and what efforts are being made on the federal level in order to make sure that states are receiving the funding that they need for education in all arenas.  Some states have drastically cut back on the amount of money that is allocated to the pre-K programs, while others have cut other areas in order to keep the funding where it needs to be.  In Georgia for example, Governor Deal has added the ten days that were cut from the pre-K school year back, but he has cut the number of slots available for students in turn cutting the number of pre-K teachers needed. 

     

Sharing Web Resources

      One of the sections that really hit home with me this week was from a blog about the effects of the recession on babies next meal.  The post went on to discuss how parents are having to water down formula just to have enough to last.  It went on to talk about the percent of families that run out of formula each month being 65% and that the majority of families chose to not feed as frequently rather than have to buy more. 

     I did not find anything to be controversial in this issue, but I was intrigued by a follow up study on the children that participated in the Abecedarian Project in the 1970's.  The study focused on a group of 111 students, some of which were placed in PreK programs and some who were not.  Out of 101 of the original students tracked, the majority who received the pre-k classes were four times more likely to have degrees and more likely to not need to depend on public assistance. 




      

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 1

     I chose to do the podcast assignment because I have not been able to reconnect with the one contact that I did make and I have not yet been able to find a second contact.  I listened to episode 10 this week with Susan Lyon.  Ms. Lyon is the founder of the Innovative Teacher Project that she founded in 1994 after being inspired by the Hundred Languages of Children Exhibit.  This exhibit is a traveling exhibit began by teaching methods in Reggio Emilia and was the cornerstone of Italian pedagogy for decades.  The schools use an in-depth approach to education.  The schools that participate consist of private and public schools, all of which take part in Roundtable discussions.

     I chose to read about India on the http://www.childhoodpoverty.org website.  It is shocking to read some of the statistics of the country who has the second largest population in the world.  The fact that India has twenty percent of its children not in school and the largest number of working children in the world is upsetting to say the least.

     Three insights that I gained from reading about India are:
*Education is needed to make a difference in the lives of people throughout the world; if these people had access to quality education, there standard of living would also improve.
*Countries that import goods from India should stop because many of the goods are being made by children who are malnourished and overworked for little to nothing.
*If countries can come up with funding and resources to fight wars over territory and material goods, those same countries should be able to fund a war against hunger and preventable diseases. 



  

Web Resources

The organization that I chose to subscribe to is NIEER (National Institute for Early Education Research).  The site can be found by visiting www.nieer.org.  The organization talks about issues that impact early childhood education throughout the country. The current newsletter provides information about Race To the Top and how free play is becoming a thing of the past because adults are not comfortable with children having unstructured time while in their care. 
     One of the items in the newsletter that I found interesting was a working paper that outlines what characteristics Georgia families share that send their children through the lottery funded pre-k program.  The paper, titled "Who's In the Circle?" takes a look at cultural background, race, and SES as a means of determining who is taking advantage of the state funded program.

My Professional Contact

     Well it has taken me a little while to get a response, but I emailed the school of education at the University of Queensland in Australia and I finally got a response giving me the names of several professors who would be willing to correspond with me about the trends and various topics in early childhood education.  I emailed four of the professors on the list and I have successfully made contact with one for sure as of late last night.  I chose to find someone in Australia because in another course while at Walden University, I had researched some of the testing methods used for the students in the country and compared them to the testing methods used here in the United States.  I do not think that I will have difficulty in obtaining another professor to correspond back and forth with from the list I was given from the Dean of the school, but just in case I have not received a response by Tuesday from a second person, I have a few more options in another country that I may try.
     The website that I chose to study is http://nieer.org/; this is the website for the National Institute for Early Education Research.  I chose this website because I would like to learn more about the different methods being used to determine what is best in the classroom and what is best for the students that we teach.  The site has a newsletter and there is no cost to subscribe to the organization.
     If you are having a hard time finding someone to correspond with, my advice would be to do as I did and find a school devoted to the higher education of educators and send out some emails asking for volunteers.  I look forward to sharing what I learn from my contacts with you all in the coming weeks.